What is the Giles Cumberland Park Project?

The Giles Cumberland Park Project is a land improvement project which will create a 7-acre commercial building site along Rt. 460 in Narrows, Va. The development site will be created above the flood plain, using a combination of compacted recycled coal ash and soil.

Who benefits from the Project?

The property was purchased by the Giles Partnership for Excellence, a non-profit economic development organization, for $100,000 in 2006. The land value when developed and brought to grade with Rt. 460 is expected to appreciate substantially. When sold, net proceeds will be donated to the Giles County Schools Vocational Education program.

Is the Cumberland Park Project environmentally sound?

Yes. Two large mid-Atlantic engineering firms, Draper Aden Associates and Schnabel Engineering, through rigorous field testing and due diligence, have designed this project to protect the environment. The engineering process took more than 18 months to complete and specified strict construction and quality control requirements that must be followed during all phases of construction. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved these plans on Aug. 1, 2007.

Have projects of this type been completed elsewhere in Virginia?

To date, 15 projects have been permitted in Virginia, some alongside streams and waterways. They now are golf courses, recreational parks, industrial parks and commercial development. Two projects are already located in Giles County, and another is located in Vinton.

I thought this land was in the flood plain. Is that not so?

It was. However, a protective berm was constructed prior to any ash being placed thereby taking the project out of the 100 year flood plain. When the project is complete and protective berms are in place, the newly created land will be above the 100-year flood plan, as certified by FEMA.

What other safeguards above and beyond the regulations have been included?

• Two monitoring wells allow for testing of groundwater at the site.

• The project is required to be two feet above the seasonal high water table; ours will be six feet above it.

• The soil cover material is required to be 18” thick; ours will be two feet thick.

• Additional random testing of the ash will conducted to be certain it meets DEQ standards.

Why is there no liner at the site?

Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have determined that a properly designed structural fill site poses little risk to the environment and does not require a liner. A landfill, which requires a liner, is designed to contain large volumes of material of unknown origin and toxicity.